A Dragon Rises from the Mud Pond
A girl covered head to toe in blood—impossible to tell if it was her own or someone else's—came to a halt before a man with an utterly ordinary face.
"Help me."
In both her hands, she was dragging something grotesque. Even broken, snapped, and stripped of its feathers, anyone could tell they were angel wings. For a moment, he wondered if they were dead, but upon closer inspection, they were barely clinging to life, ragged breaths rising and falling.
It was clear she'd held back more than usual for her. And with that single plea for help, she'd cast aside every shred of her pride.
Still, she'd gone too far. The man facing her let out a short sigh before speaking.
"What kind of help do you seek, little lamb?"
"There's this guy I can't handle no matter what I do."
"Are you asking me for the power to harm someone?"
Her lips twitched as something boiled up inside her. She dropped the angels she'd been dragging and snarled.
"...Messiah, you know who my enemy is. You know that bastard's a total piece of shit. So why the hell are you even asking?"
The Messiah—Jesus—fell silent for a moment, lost in thought, then slowly replied.
"To others, you look no different from a demon. That's why I want to know why you've come to me."
"If you saw me that way too, you'd have tossed me into hell or wherever by now. The fact that I'm standing here fine means I'm not, right?"
"Then doesn't that mean those two still have a reason to exist?"
"Nope. I looked 'em over every which way, eyes wide open, and those fuckers deserve to die."
"I'm torn on how to deal with you."
"I need power."
She stepped closer, ignoring his anguish entirely.
"The power to kill something that absolutely cannot be killed."
"Your sins are deep and heavy, little lamb."
"So?"
"I fear you cannot bear the trials."
"Pain, hardship, suffering—just endure it. It'll work itself out somehow. If not, die and come back. But..."
Bloody tears streamed from her eyes.
"I don't know what to do about this. Trials? Yeah, it'll suck. But can't I just push through? If I croak halfway, I'll come back. I'll do it thousands, tens of thousands of times if I have to... Help me with whatever—trials or not."
"Was that woman so precious to you? Precious enough to cast aside your lofty pride, make enemies of countless gods, all to save her? You've turned the world against you. The path ahead will be nothing but suffering—did it have to be this way?"
"Yep."
No hesitation. Not a flicker in her eyes.
"Nyx is the first one who's treated me like a person since I turned into this."
"Wasn't it your own choice to abandon your humanity? I tried so hard to lead you down the righteous path."
"That's what makes us human—clinging to humanity despite it all. You know that better than anyone. The guy who betrayed you three times, the one who sold you out for thirty pieces of silver and hanged himself. The king who whipped you out of fear of the mob... You saw it all up close."
Jesus's eyes closed gently. He pondered long and hard, then spoke with a pained expression.
"Climb Golgotha Hill. Bear the weight of your sins and ascend to the summit."
He rose and placed a hand on her head. The girl, drenched in blood, was instantly restored to a pristine, innocent state, as if it had never happened. She examined her body and beamed.
"Thanks!"
Jesus's face darkened further.
"I tell you this so you may find peace in me. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart—I have overcome the world. What you hold may seem insignificant, but when you act in my name, it will have the power to move mountains. Soon, you will command the battlefield by your faith."
"I'll memorize the Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed by the time the trials are done."
"...My temple already dwells in your soul—why fuss over such formalities?"
"Oh? Then forget it."
"...Memorize them."
And before her eyes, a hill unfolded.
"Around 200 million years in, maybe? I spent an extra 1,214 years on that hill before reaching the top. I went through all that for this power—so obviously, that eye freak has to get obliterated, right?"
"That's Jesus's power too. You know—Jesus Christ."
"Distant, maybe not, but yeah, he's incredible. Maybe the second one after Nyx to treat me like a person. My master doesn't count since I was still human then. Got it? Actually, my master was the first to treat me like one. Anyway, what was I saying... where'd I leave off?"
"Oh, right. Yeah. Back when I went to Jesus, I was too young to get it, but looking back now... I was just a kid then. After the trials, I even dropped by for some wine, but now it's kinda embarrassing. What do you think, Azure Dragon? You agree, right?"
Hard to tell if he was asking what I thought. Her conversation jumped all over the place—it was tough to keep up. Still, the Azure Dragon answered first.
"I'm embarrassing?!"
Time had stopped, but he'd seen everything. As a divine being, his consciousness stayed sharp even then. He'd witnessed the heavens devouring that 'eye' clear as day—no way he could defy her now.
"Right, so it deserved to die. Jesus is basically planet-busting level. Huh? Then who's the Buddha? Nah, don't answer—split the difference wrong and you'll get smacked. Happened to me once."
"Once Constellations showed up, the fun 'pick a side' debates exploded. You'd like it—try it. Like, between you and the White Tiger, who's stronger? Gets people riled up. Same with folks. So who's top dog? Gotta be Azure Dragon, right?"
The heavens giggled, poking the massive severed head before her. The body below the neck was already sliced off, scales and heart devoured. Half its divinity gone for good.
All that remained was this huge head and the inner core inside. Yet it lived. That's what divinities were—bodies mere vessels. Their essence was the divinity itself. So as long as a sliver remained, the Azure Dragon endured, speaking.
"But you're weaker than me. So what to do with you, Azure Dragon? Got any bright ideas?"
"Spare you?"
"Let you live??"
Gauging her mood, the Azure Dragon squeezed its eyes shut.
"Hmm..."
Forcing its eyes open, the heavens peered deep into them.
"Fine, first spill everything you know. How the hell did you come back to life?"
"That one?"
"Yeah?"
No further reply. From there, she pieced it together step by step.
The Azure Dragon was bound by a geas. Probably all divinities were. That's why it hid how it came to Earth.
Higher ones might be bound by promises or contracts instead. Or perhaps, to reach Earth, countless divinities pooled their power, sealing all lips.
Reversing time, restoring divinity, isolating spaces for Constellations, granting powers to humans, opening gates, nurturing growth... Time, recovery, space, blessings, creation, cultivation—tons of powers needed. Massive divinity drain.
And right before Earth, that massive war. So many died, devoured. Maybe they fled here as refugees.
Thus, creating apostles, gathering faith to recover spent divinity...
'That tracks.'
She had a rough grasp on why Constellations appeared on Earth.
'Then what's that prophecy?'
Baek Hye-seo's recited prophecy surfaced in her mind. Details fuzzy, but something about the Black Heaven coming and the world ending.
Sounded like the war wasn't the only reason they came—something bigger.
'Hmm, guess I'm innocent after all.'
Smiling contentedly at the Azure Dragon, she'd sorted her thoughts. Now, time to figure why Busker suffered like that.
"Why'd you try possessing a human? What's the deal with making apostles? And why the liver munch? No human's crazy enough to eat ants. You into that?"
"Figures, the eroge god. Kinky bastard. Why'd it need that?"
"Gather despair, huh. Then we need magical girls collecting hope too. Love those."
Azure Dragon made apostles just to break them. What about the others?
No more pondering—she asked straight.
"Why do other divinities want apostles? You know?"
Dizzy from her chaotic chatter, the Azure Dragon steadied its breath before answering.
"Why would divinities suddenly care about humans now? Me?"
Me?
The question choked the Azure Dragon. No body to breathe with, but divinities didn't need air anyway... the vibe was suffocating.
"Huh? Wasn't I human? Maybe not later, but I started out human. Lived great with humans back then. Why just me? Whoa, suddenly my stomach hurts. I'm pissed. Rage boiling. Chest tight. Fury surging. Aaaah, gonna black out."
"So when I first fell here, you made apostles for the same reason?"
"Damn, every word a lie. You don't wanna live anymore, huh? You have no idea how much I'm holding back just listening. Want me to show you? Huh? One quick demo?"
"Lately, I roughed up Leviathan and some pals. Wanna see how?"
Krzzzzzzt!
Black and white energies clashed in her hands. The Azure Dragon freaked, blue tears spilling.
"Did or didn't? Pick one—I'm losing it."
Snapping mid-sentence, she shot to her feet.
"What? Two in each hand, so you give two answers? Fine. Let's see who wins. Loser bottoms. You lose, you're in deep shit, you little king dreamer. Draw."
Her head tilted. Then the other way. She plopped back down. The Azure Dragon sighed in relief.
"Someone else? Wait, was it that 'Lust' thing from back then?"
Averting her gaze, it replied.
"Then why didn't it show when I was killing you? Scared of mutual destruction?"
"Shut it."
This 'eye' appeared right before death. Not sad about it—just intrigued by her. To outer gods, a divinity's death meant little.
They spouted childish crap about gathering despair. Was a divinity's despair 'despair'? If so, maybe Lust didn't show 'cause it had enough already. Or unlike the eye, it lacked reason—just a phenomenon, like back in the Central Plains.
"Seen it on Earth since?"
"Don't just shake your head—speak. Why're you quiet? Hate talking to me? Keep it up?"
"So anyway, you teamed up with my master's enemy to kill me."
Didn't know Lust was the enemy then, and never dreamed she'd get this strong. But voicing that would end it quick, so silence.
"You know I'm holding back a lot, right?"
"Good. Hand over your inner core."
Its eyes widened. Sizzle! Chicken-fry sounds from her hands. Meekly, it extracted the core from its forehead—slightly larger than her fist, but ugly, unlike normal ones.
"Why's it so gross?"
"Contaminated by the eye? I can purify it, but damn. Looks like a walnut. Hye-seo'd hate it. Anyway, thanks. I'll put it to good use."
She tossed it into sub-space and stood.
Its gaze followed.
"Yeah, don't need it."
"I know how to eat 'em without dying. Done it myself a few times."
My precious core turning to human shit... Swallowing a sigh, it forced a grin. Show regret now, and it's over—better laugh.
"Anyway, learned a ton thanks to you."
She turned away without regret.
"You guys probably got no afterlife, but if you do, live nice next time."
The heavens turned pitch black. Beneath that darkness, the last sound the Azure Dragon heard was its own divinity being crunched.
Job done, she headed toward the city—then blinked wide at her dramatically changed body after devouring the 'eye'.